I do not know how to be an Indian anymore. What do I stand
for? What does India stand for? Are we the sheep being herded across policies
and morals? Are we pigs being fed to be slaughtered? Are we the lions, caged
and whipped? No. How could we be?
In the past week alone, I have read numerous news articles
that have disheartened, angered and disappointed me. From mentally disabled
women getting raped and abused to a society of the offended, from scams to
hanging prisoners in silence to creating a Hindu
Rashtra. Should I go on?
I write this piece with a sinking feeling in my stomach. I
am going through a string of negative emotions not only as woman in India but
as an Indian. When do we take our space back? When do we stand up for the so
called democracy we call home? We are heading towards a path where freedom of
speech, freedom to walk the road, freedom to claim freedom is at risk. But what
do I know? I am just a voice in the disgruntled offended republic.
No matter how much we try, the discourse of rape in India is
still the same. How long will we keep placing the blame on the women? I as an
individual should have the right to wear anything I want without getting raped.
I should be able to walk the streets without being x-rayed with visions. I
should be able to do what I want, I should be able to live and not ‘allowed’ to.
I should not be ‘allowed’ to do anything. It’s my right!
People need to understand the dynamics behind rape. It’s not
just about sex. You can buy sex, no matter how illegal it is. Rape is about
power and exertion of that power over women. Rape is about the fact that the
same guy who is taught that women are shit, has to work under her in a more
evolved city. It’s about teaching her who’s the boss. It’s ‘I have a penis and
let me show you where it goes’. But what
do I know? I am a just a woman.
The newest conflict
in India is about religion. I am okay with everyone having their own faith,
then again, why would you care what I am okay with? Exactly. Have your
religion. Stop shoving it down people’s throats. Stop telling people which
religion to follow. Why the hell do you care so much? Why the intense desire to
get dominion over other races. It’s the exact thing you are afraid the other
religion is trying to do. Irony is weeping in a corner while you fight your
battles. Then again, what do I know? I am an atheist.
When will we learn to take a joke? When will we stop telling
people what they can and cannot do. I am sorry governments, that’s not what we
are spending our tax money on. The nation is full of people who need your
attention and you are fixing all your attention on a freakin’ roast? Why does
it offend you? The hypocrite in you shouts at the display of vulgarity while
you shag off to Sunny Leone? And yes, women, you too are party to this
I-am-offended charade too. Why is your sensibility hurt when I know what
whatsapp messages you laugh at? Answer me this, if you do not find it funny,
does it mean no one does? Or do you not think other people’s opinions matter?
Again, Irony weeps and weeps. And again, what do I know? I like anti-jokes too.
I absolutely do not know how to be a woman in India. I do
not know how to be an India. I do not know how to be a human. Teach me
otherwise India. You are answerable to the people who fought to free you. Don’t
let your own subjugate you, when you did not let the foreigners do it.
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